Cattle-guard



W. A. LAND.

CATTLE GUARD. APPLICATION 111w FEB. 13. 1911.

m m WW1. m m 1, A M n6 7" O rllllll1kll.ll1l 9 b n N 1 l N flu MN W. A. LAND.

CATTLE GUARD.

APPLICATION mu) FEB. I3, 1911.

Patented J 11116 3, 1919.

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFion.

WILLIAM A. LAND, OF HEWINS. K vsAs, ASSIGNOR or ONE-THIRD T0 MARSHALL H.

TAYLOR, or HEWINS, KANSAS.

' cATrrLE-GUARD.

Patented June 3, 1919.

Application filed February 13, 1917. Serial No. 148,367.

0 all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, WILLIAM A. LAND, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hewins, in the county of Chautauqua and State of Kansas, have invented new and useful Improvements in Cattle-Guards, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a cattle guard which may be employed to prevent cattle from. straying along a railroad track and in which a barrier for this purpose may be raised to a vertical position by the Weight of an animal upon a depressible platform connected therewith.

Theprimary object of the invention is to provide a cattle guard of this character which is simple in construction and may be quickly installed and in which frames serving as supports for the platforms for moving the movable barrier to an active position are of novel construction.

Another object of the invention is to provide bearing brackets which serve as a support for the movable barrier and are so constructed that they may be adjusted upon a support to which said brackets are connected to regulate the tension of springs for restoring and maintaining the movable barrier in an inactive position.

With these and other objects in view, the invention resides in the novel combination and arrangement of parts, which will be hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claim.

The preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated in the accompanying drawings, although no restriction is necessarily made to the precise details of construction therein shown, as changes, alterations, and modifications, within the scope of the claim may be resorted to when desired.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a cattle guard constructed in accordance with the invention, and showing the same mounted upon the ties of a section of railroad track.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of Fig. 1. I

Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through the center gate member with the said gate in its raised position.

Fig. 4is a detailed perspective view of one of the platform supporting frames.

Fig. 5 is a detailed perspective view of one of the bearing brackets for the gate shaft.

- Like characters of reference denote corresponding parts throughout the several views in the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the letter A designates a section of railroad track which is shown in the drawings as passing through an opening in a fence, with the ties 6 having secured thereto the track rails 7 in the usual manner.

Arranged at opposite ends of one of the ties 6 are bearing brackets 8, each of said bracketscomprising a plate like body 9 for contact with an end of the tie and having formed therein alongitudinally extending slot 10, one wall of which has formed thereon spaced teeth 11 between which may be arranged headed spikes 12 passing through the slot 10 and driven into the ends of the tie to secure the bearing bracket thereto. Formed on the body 9 at one corner thereof is a bearing sleeve 13.

By connecting the bearing brackets with the ends of the tie as above described it will be seen that the bearing brackets may be ad uste-d transversely of the tie when the occasion requires for a purpose which will hereinafter appear.

A gate 14 to be supported upon the tie 6 to which the bearing brackets 8 are consaid 'tie and the tie adjacent thereto with the ends of the rail provided with trunnions 16 received in the bearing sleeves 13 on the brackets 8. Spaced bars 17 are connected with the rail 15 which is provided with spaced recesses 18 and 19, the recesses 18 receiving therein the bases of the track rails while the recesses 19 have passed therethrough flexible members 20 each of which has one terminal thereof connected with the rail 15 of the gate.

Spaced yokes 21 arranged adjacent to and between the track rails 7 and formed from angle iron have the connecting bars 22 for the arms 23 thereof hingedly connected with one of the ties 6 by bearing plates 24, the free ends of the arms of the yokes having formed thereon eyes 26 through which are passed the other ends of the flexible elements 20, the length of said elements being such that the weight of the gate is sufiicient to normally hold the yokes raised above the ties positioned therebeneath. The arms 23 of the yokes are offset adjacent their free ends to form shoulders 27'which when the yokes are depressed engage with the side of one of the ties 6 andliinit the" downward movement of the yokes. i

Arranged upon each yoke 21 is aaplate form 28 formed from any suitable material such. assheet iron or the like, and isiremovr ablyconnectedwith the'yoke byfihgers 29 at the sides of the platform which: may bei'en-L steps upon oneof the platforms 28 the weight of -the animal will: depress the -plat= form. and: cause the same toswing-the gate l l to a vertical position as shown in F ig 3 in the drawings at which ti meg the stop shoul ders-27 on the arms ofthe yokes-will} contact with a face upon-one ofthetiesand prevent further turning movementof the gate te= wardthe platformsz- I When the animal steps from theplatform upon which it has been standinggfthe spring 30 ser-ve's to move the gate 14: -andth'e plat formsto thein normal: position; the bars upon the rail 15' through'their contaotwith the tie to which the bearing brackets are connected serving to limit the turning movement ofthe gateinthis direetiom I 7 In order that-the tension of'thesprings 3O may be controlled the bearing brackets may be adjusted ontheends of the ties 6 asabove bBd Fromtheforegoing statements, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it is at once apparent that a cattle guardhas been provided which. is highly eflicient in use, comparatively simple in construetion; :itnd bsy tO install.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new-,is-:' Y i IncombinatiQn witha railway track, a gate" therefor and a clepressible platform having a fiex-ible connection with the gate and designed iwhen pressure is exerted there'- on to 'swin'g the-"gate to one-position; and

means for normally retaining thegatein another position, said gate having outwardly extending trunnions at :thebottom thereof,

brackets; sleeves formed-on one of the corners of each 1 of 1 the brackets 'receiving-.-' the trunnions off the gate, the body of each of the braokets'having a longitudinally: extending slot, the upper wallof the saidisllot hav ing spacedteeth andthebody; of each of the In testimony w hereof l atfix mysignature. V

. .WILL A LAND.

flopies-rof this patentimayibe' obtained fortifiireicents eacm byiaddressingytherfCommissioner offiatents; i e WaShington, D 01 i v 

